Hame-fastener.



No. 879,098. PATENTED FEB. 11, 1908.

J. W. GONGE.

HAME FASTENER. APPLICATION FILED 10110.5, 1906.

INVENTOH (Jo i272 Wadam 61' once ATTORNEYS JOHN WISDOM GONCE, OFKINDEBHOOK, ALABAMA.

HAME-FASTENER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 11, 1908.

Application filed December 5 1966. Serial No. 346.385.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN WISDOM GoNon, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Kinderhook, in the county of Jackson and State ofAlabama, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Hame Fasteners,of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The purpose of my invention is to provide a strong, durable andsatisfactory lever fastener for hames that will act to draw the hamestight and hold them taut, the construction being such that the fastenercan be adapted to hames of different sizes.

It is also a purpose of the invention to provide a simple and economicconstruction not liable to get out of order or to be affected by ice orsnow.

A further purpose of the invention is to provide a fastener that will beflexible and which will automatically adjust itself to the collar andthe hames, and one that can be attached to or detached from the hames ina convenient and expeditious manner as readily in winter as in summer,but which will not be liable to become accidentally disconnected from.the hames or shaken therefrom.

The invention consists'in the novel construction and combination of theseveral parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth and pointed out inthe claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the device and a portion of the membersof the hames to which it is applied; Fig. 2 is a plan view of thedevice; Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the snap link that acts as alatch; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a second snap link that serves asa keeper for the latch link; and Fig. 5 is a vertical section takenpractically on the line 55 of Fig. 1.

A represents the body of the device, which in operation is a lever andwill be hereinafter so designated. The said lever A at its outer end isprovided with a head 10 and a concavity 11 in its upper edge, extendingfrom the head to a point practically adjacent to the center of the leveras is clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the body portion of the said leverA being provided with teeth 12 at its upper edge and the ooncavedsurface 11 terminating at the outer tooth as is best shown in Fig. 1.

The concaved portion of the lever A may be termed a neck 13, since itconnects the head 10 with the body, and this neck section 13 of the saidlever is outwardly convexed, its inner face being concave as is bestshown in Fig. 2; and about midway of the neck section 13 of the lever aspur 14 is formed integral with its upper or concaved edge 11. The spur14 is given an upward and an outward inclination, so that its undersurface will be more or less inclined as specified.

The head 10 of the lever A may have a latch 15 of a spring characterpivoted thereto, as is shown in Figs. 1 and 2, which latch is more orless curved so that it can be carried.

up practically beneath the spur 14 and rest at its inner end upon theupper edge 11 of the said neck section 13 as is shown by full lines insaid Figs. 1 and 2; and said latch 15, which may be termed a keeperlatch, can be carried down to a lower vertical position shown by dottedlines in Fig.-1,'so as to constitute a handle, or a convenient hand-holdfor turning the lever A in effecting a release from or an attachment tomembers to be hereinafter described. I desire it, however, to bedistinctly understood, that the latch 1 5 while desirable under someconditions of use, can be dispensed with, without detracting from theessentials of the invention, and also that the character of the latchmay be changed.

Usually two snap links B and C are employed in connecting with the leverA one of the links, the link B, is permanently connected with the leverA and may be termed a keeper link, since it is adapted to hold thesecond link C in engagement with the toothed surface of the lever A,which snap link 0 may be termed a latch link since its prime object isto effect an adjustable connection between the lever A and a hame.

The links B and C differ information.

The keeper link B, which is shown in detail in Fig. 4, has its bowed orclosed end 16 downwardly bent, and this end of the link B is received inan aperture 17 produced at the inner end of a lever A as is shown inFigs. 1 and 2, the said link B being in this manner connected with thesaid lever having more or less play relatively thereto. The members 18of the body of the said keeper link B are not parallel, but are curvedoutwardly or in opposite directions as is lainly shown in Figs. 2 and 4,so that said body members 18 he one at each side of the lever A, removed.by the keeper link B which lies over it.

some distance from the side portions of said lever. The outer bodymember of the keeper link B is bent downwardly andinwardly, forming ahook terminal 19, which hook terminal 19 in the closed position of thekeeper link B engages with the convexed or outer face of the neck 13 andlies below the spur 14 as is also shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The inner bodymember 18 of the said link B is also provided with a hook terminal 20,corresponding to the hook 19; but the hook terminal 20 is provided withan upwardly and outwardly-directed terminal member 21, the inclinationof the terminal member 21 being such as to bring it practically inalinement with the inner edge of the forward body member 18, so thatunder such formation of the hook terminals they constitute a nearlycomplete closure; and in the locked position of the keeper link B thehook 20 lies in-engagement with the inner or concaved face of the necksection 13 of the lever A, the inclined terminal of the said hookextending up beyond the concaved edge 11 of the said neck sectionbetween the outer tooth 12 and the spur 14. It will be observed that inorder to eifect such a closing connection between the lever A and thekeeper link B, it is necessary to turn the lever inwardly, which is donethrough the medium of the keeper latch 15 when in its lower position,and when the lever A is thus turned the spur 14 can be carried up withinthe space between the hooks 19 and 20, and at such time the said hookswill effect a positive locking engagement with said lever; but in orderto doubly insure such locking engagement the keeper latch 15 is carriedupward over the hook 19 and beneath the spur 14 to an en gagement withthe upper edge of the neck section 13 to the rear of said spur.

The latch link 0 is provided with a much larger space between its bodymembers 22 than the space between the body members 18 of the keeper linkB, and the closed end 23 of the said latch link 0 is its inner end. Saidclosed end 23 is straight but is given somewhat of an upwardinclination, since this end portion 23 of the latch link 0 is adapted toenter a space between opposing teeth 12 of the lever A, to be held inplace The latch link C is made wider than the keeper link B in orderthat the lever A and accomanying keeper link B can be turned in the atchlink C when the latter is attached to the hames.

The latch link C is provided with hook terminals corresponding to thehook terminals of the keeper link B; but the order of the terminals ofthe latch link is the reverse of that provided for the keeper link,namely, the short hook 19 which corresponds to the hook 19 on the keeperlink B, is at the end of the inner member of the latch link, while theopposing hook 20 having the extension terminal 21 is at the end of theouter mem ber of the said link C; but the extension terminal 21 of thehook 20 inclines upward and inward so as to be brought practically to analinement with the inner member 22 of the said latch link C. p

The hook ends of the latch link C are spread apart and in this mannerare made to enter the eye 24 of a hame section D, while the hook ends ofthe keeper link B are made to enter in like manner the eye 24 of theopposing hame member D. Then the space between the hame members D and Dis of ordinary width, but two snap links B and C are employed. If,however, the space is wider a third snap link may be used, and said snaplink may be connected with the latch link C, but preferably it iscarried by the keeper link B, and the hook ends of the added link aremade to enter the eye 24 of the hames that the keeper link B isordinarily designed to enter. The almost complete closure formed by theterminals of the snap links effectually prevents the said links fromaccidentally leaving or being shaken from the eyes of the hames throughwhich the hooks are passed or with which they engage.

The device is exceedingly simple, it is durable and economic and it iswell adapted for the purpose intended and all the parts can be madeseparately and connected without bolts, rivets or their equivalents,since in applying the keeper link to the lever A such application can bereadily made by first entering the shorter or plain hook end 19 at theopening 17 in the said lever.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent,

1. In a hame fastener, a toothed lever, and a keeper pivoted to one endof the lever and having spacedmembers terminating in hooks adapted forengagement with an eye of the hames, said hooks closely approaching eachother to engage opposite sides of the free end of the lever and having adirect interlocking engagement with said free end.

2. In a hame fastener, a toothed lever having a lateral bend or curve atone end, and a keeper pivoted to the end of the lever opposite thathaving the curve and having spaced members terminating in hooks adaptedfor engagement with an eye of the hames, said hooks closely approachingeach other to respectively engage the convex and concave sides of thecurved end of the lever and having a direct interlocking engagement withsaid curved end.

3. In a hame fastener, a toothed lever having a lateral bend or curve atone end and a lug on said curved end, and a kee er pivoted to the end ofthe lever opposite t lat having the bend or curve and having spacedmembers terminating in hooks adapted for engagement with an eye of thehames, said hooks receiving the curved end of the lever between them andone of them engaging the said lug.

4:. In a hame fastener, a toothed lever having one of its endslongitudinally curved and provided with an outwardly extending spur atthe upper portion of its curved end, a snap link pivoted to the end ofthe lever opposite that which is curved, and a second snap link havingadjustable relation to the said lever below the link pivoted thereto,each link at its outer or open end being provided with a diagonal springterminal, forming a partial closure at the outer end of each of saidlinks, the lever and link carried thereby being free to turn in theadjustable link.

5. In a hame fastener, a toothed lever having a reduced and laterallycurved neck and an upwardly and outwardly extending lug on the upperedge of said neck, and a keeper pivoted to one end of the lever andhaving spaced members terminating in hooks adapted for engagement withan eye of the hames, one of the hooks having an upwardly extendingdiagonal member, the hooks receiving the neck of lever between them andthe one without the diagonal member engaging the said lug.

6. In a hame fastener, a toothed lever having a head at one end and alongitudi-,

nally-curved neck section connecting the head with the body, snap links,one of which is pivoted to the lever at the end opposite that at whichthe head is formed, the other linkbeing wider and arranged foradjustable engagement with the teeth of the lever below the link carriedthereby, each link being provided with hook terminals at its outer end,one of said terminals of each link having an upwardly-extending,diagonal semi closing member.

7. In a hame fastener, a toothed lever having a head at one end and alongitudinally-curved neck section connecting the head with the body,snap links, one of which is pivoted to the lever at the end oppositethat at which the head is formed, the other link being wider andarranged for adjustable engagement with the teeth, of the lever belowthe link carried thereby, each link being provided with hook terminalsat its outer end, one of said terminals of each link having anupwardly-extending, diagonal, semi-closing member, which diagonalmembers of the links extend from opposite sides thereof in oppositedirections.

8. In a hame fastener, a toothed lever having a head at one end and alongitudinally-curved neck section connecting the head with the body andprovided with an outwardly extending spur, snap links, one of which ispivoted to the lever at the and opposite that at which the head isformed, the other link being wider and arranged for adjustableengagement with the teeth of the lever below the link carried thereby,each link being provided with hook terminals at its outer end, one ofsaid terminals of each link having an upwardly-extending, diagonal,semi-closing member, which diagonal members of the links extend fromopposite sidesthereof in opposite directions, and a keeper latch at thehead of the lever, adapted for locking engagement with a hook terminalof the link carried by the lever when said link is in looking positionrelatively to the lever.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN WISDOM GONCE.

Witnesses:

I. N. HAoKwoR'rrr, CHAS. W. GONOE.

